I can’t even begin to explain how totally excited and incredibly grateful am I to be here. I can’t wait to start out my Mondays talking about my favorite thing…kids books!

Mira has done such an amazing job with her Mondays With Mira vlogs and honestly, I’m a bit intimidated about trying to live up to her legacy.

But I’ll give it my all and I hope you will join me on Mondays with Mandy (or Mira).

So…who am I? Well, over all, I’m a creator and a sharer. Which is usually how it works, I think. Creators want to share what they have created. Growing up, I loved musical theatre, art, and writing.

When I got to college, I took classes in all areas, but majored in vocal performance. Halfway through, I switched my major to elementary education because education was a more “stable” and “reliable” job than vocal performance. (Insert sarcastic laugh here.)

So as I taught first grade, I finished my Masters in Reading. I decided to become a reading specialist when I realized I was teaching my first graders to write haiku poetry during what should have been their math time. (Oops!)

My students may not have learned (anything) from me about math, but darn it, they loved to read and write. Even those typical “bookhaters.” (You know the ones that claim they hate books, they hate reading, blah, blah, blah!) But I was able to turn them all into readers and writers. During all that time (not teaching math) I discovered something amazing…

Kids Don’t Hate Books!

They just haven’t discovered the joy of it yet. Or worse, the “pain and torture” of reading has rubbed off on them from someone else who never discovered book joy.

Now I know, I’m probably preaching to the choir about instilling a love of reading, since all of us here adore books. So instead, I’ll share a totally true, but relevantly sarcastic “How To.” If you definitely want your children or students to HATE books and reading, then follow the following steps.

There you have it! Keep those tips in mind! They are sure to work. I have proof.

One last tidbit about me: While teaching my first graders, I realized I had no idea how to teach them "how to write." So I decided to go back to school for an MFA in Creative Writing for Children. I've learned a great deal about writing in order to teach my students, and it inspired me to want to write children's book as well. I love writing picture books, poetry, chapter books, and middle grade. So I will be discussing all these areas in upcoming posts. See you Monday on Mondays with Mandy (or Mira) where I’ll try to contain my excitement! Oh, remember how I said I couldn’t begin to describe how excited I am?

Hey, Mandy! love your blog! I will be with you on Mondays for sure! I love your "Top Ten Ways" - I totally agree that #9 is terrible - choice is a MUST for students. Even now teaching at the college level, I provide choice, which in turns, creates a vested interest and connection to the assignment! BTW - I think I've seen all those expressions during our writing times together! LOL

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Roveen Yoder

8/30/2013 05:19:28 am

Love it; good luck.

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Gayle O'Donnell

8/30/2013 06:14:15 am

Mandy, Your range of emotions is impressive! Your blog via Mira will be such fun--Thanks for sharing this!

Brilliant! Thanks, Mandy! I have the best results with my youngest when I leave books lying around for her rather than suggesting we read but the oldest is dreadful for getting him to read. I have found one book he likes, so I'm going to buy the whole series LOL.

This festival falls on the most limited day of the year (21st December) and was commended in Britain some time before the entry of Christianity. Furthermore, some story books that are ideal for kids are the Winter Solstice, the Story of Holly and Ivy, While the Bear Sleeps.

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Meet the Friday Blogonauts

First Fridayswill feature Bryan Patrick Avery, published writer , man of mystery, and professional magician among other things.

Fourth Fridayswill feature the great Christine Taylor-Butler who has published over 70 award-winning fiction and non-fiction and nonfiction books including the acclaimed new middle grade series - The Lost Tribes.